A petrol attendant who gave a statement to the police, said the man and his friend walked into the station carrying a 20-litre plastic container.
“The man requested that he sell them 15 litres of petrol,” said Constable Matome Tlamela of Midrand police.
One of the men then left the pump and went to the station’s convenience store. As he was speaking to the teller inside the store, his friend asked the petrol attendant to help him look for a lid for the container. The attendant looked for a lid in a nearby dustbin, found one and went and closed the container.
“He said as he looked up at the man, the man was pointing a brown or black firearm at him, he cocked it and said voetsek [go away],” said Tlamela.
The attendant backed away and as he did so, the gunman allegedly ran away with the petrol. His friend who had been inside chatting to the cashier, also bolted out the store and ran in the same direction. Their running alerted the security guard, who chased them and caught one of the suspects. The gunman ran towards Le Roux Street, where a car had been waiting for him. He entered it and the car drove off.
“The police were called to the scene and they arrested the one suspect. We are hoping to bring the other two (the gunman and driver of the getaway car) to book,” said Tlamela.
She could not elaborate on the whereabouts of the remaining suspects. “Police are still investigating,” she said.
Any strange robberies you’ve heard of? Let us know by tweeting @MidrandReporter
